Support roller arrangement for use in an aircraft cargo hold

ABSTRACT

Conventional support rollers are installed on the floor of an aircraft cargo hold in a mounting profile that comprises side walls, and in an interior space of the mounting profile latch elements can be mounted in order to secure containers, pallets or similar items of freight. To reduce the construction expense, the weight, and the work of assembly, it is proposed that two external rollers be rotatably mounted, outside the interior space of the mounting profile, on an axle that passes through the side walls of the mounting profile.

RELATED U.S. APPLICATIONS

Not applicable.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable.

REFERENCE TO MICROFICHE APPENDIX

Not applicable.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a support roller arrangement mounted ina mounting profile for use in a floor of an aircraft cargo hold.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Patent DE 2908400 A1 discloses an arrangement for a cargo-hold floor ofa large scale aircraft, in which a total of six rows of mountingprofiles are installed in the long direction of the aircraft. In thesemounting profiles both support rollers and locking elements are seated.The arrangement of the mounting profiles is such that there is room fortwo containers side by side, with their edges as well as middle regionsseated on the support rollers. To keep the containers from moving in adirection transverse to the long axis of the aircraft, suitably orientedlatch elements are provided between the middle mounting profiles.

In this arrangement it is considered disadvantageous that the supportrollers in each of the mounting profiles are used for only one row, inthe long direction of the aircraft, of containers or pallets; for thenext row of containers, pallets or similar items of freight a separatemounting profile with support rollers seated therein is needed.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a support rollerarrangement which can be used in more diverse ways than conventionalarrangements while requiring little effort and expense to construct.

According to the present invention there is provided a support rollerarrangement mounted in a mounting profile for use in a floor of anaircraft cargo hold, the mounting profile comprising side walls anddefining an interior space wherein latch elements can be mounted inorder to secure an item of freight, the arrangement comprising an axlethat passes through the side walls of the mounting profile and on eachend of which an external roller is rotatably mounted outside theinterior space of the mounting profile.

This arrangement makes it possible to mount two rows of support rollersin the long direction of the aircraft using a single mounting profile.

Preferably, an internal roller in addition to the external rollers ismounted on the axle in the interior space of the mounting profile. Thisinternal roller provides an improved support for the container when ittravels not only with its marginal zone resting on one of the twoexternal rollers, but rather with its entire floor resting on bothexternal rollers and the internal roller.

Preferably also, each of the external rollers is mounted in a supportcage, which is attached on one side to the associated side wall of themounting profile and on the other side comprises an outer wall in whichthe axle is fixed and supported by way of an end section. Even thoughonly slightly more work is required to install the external rollers, theresult is a considerably increased stability of the whole arrangement,while the support profile can be kept substantially free from bendingforces.

The support cage preferably comprises an upper surface with a centralaperture through which the external roller projects. The result isimproved protection of the arrangement as a whole from damage.

The upper surface is preferably constructed so that it slopes upwardtowards the external roller, so that when a container approaches, it isguaranteed to travel onto the roller. Furthermore, the upper surface ofthe cage preferably has a rounded outer contour with side flanks thatdiverge in the direction towards the associated side wall of themounting profile. One advantage of this feature is increased stabilityof the arrangement as a whole, and another is that the freight is alsobetter protected against becoming caught up against the cage.

The external rollers are preferably considerably narrower than theinterior space of the mounting profile or an internal roller that mightbe mounted there. As a result, on one hand stability is increasedbecause of the shorter axle while on the other hand, despite thisshortening, a container being transported over only one external rolleris not overstressed because the part of the container in contact withthe external roller is its edge, a region in which the customarycontainers or pallets are reinforced.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the support rollerarrangement is installed, in particular individually, in the middle of acargo-hold floor of an aircraft to operate as a roller conveyor, themounting profile is provided with cross-latches so that pairs ofcontainers or pallets or similar items of freight can be locked togetheralong the middle of the cargo-hold floor. When the roller is utilized inthis way, one mounting profile can be eliminated, which is especiallyadvantageous not only with respect to the effort of assembly but inparticular with respect to the savings in weight.

Preferred embodiments of the invention will be now described by way ofexample with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front view of a mounting profile with rollers andwedge-shaped containers;

FIG. 2 is a view along the line II-II in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view along the line III-III in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a mounting profile with support rollersand latches; and

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a section of a floor of a cargo hold.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following description, the same reference numerals are used foridentical parts or parts with identical actions.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, a mounting profile 10 comprises side walls 11and 12 that project upward from a floor 13. The upper edges 14 and 15 ofthe side walls 11 and 12 are “flanged” outward to increase theresistance to bending.

At the side walls 11, 12, and specifically at their outer surfaces,cages 20 are mounted by way of a flange 21 that is attached to the sidewalls 11, 12 by means of rivets 26. The cage 20 further compriseslateral panels 24, 25 that extend outward from the flange 21 in adirection perpendicular to the side walls 11, 12 of the mounting profile10, as well as an outer wall 22 that connects these lateral panels 24,25, so that a closed box resistant to bending is produced. The upperedges of the outer wall 22 and the lateral panels 24, 25 merge with anupper surface 23 from which a section has been cut out to leave anopening 27. This upper surface 23 is, on one hand, shaped so that itslopes upward toward the middle of the cage (see FIG. 2), while on theother hand it comprises a circumferential edge that converges toward theoutside, away from the mounting profile 10, and is rounded at itscorners.

An axle 32 passes through the side walls 11, 12, the flange 21 and theouter walls 22 of the two cages 20, which are disposed exactly oppositeone another, and is kept in place by spring rings or similar devicessituated at its ends. On the axle 34 are rotatably disposed externalrollers 31 and 32 as well as one internal roller 33; the diameters ofthe external rollers 31, 32 and the internal roller 33 are identical,and the external rollers 31, 32 extend upward through the openings 27 inthe cages 20.

As shown in FIG. 5, on a cargo-hold floor 50 there are a total of 7mounting profiles, oriented in the long direction of the aircraft,namely a central mounting profile 10, two mounting profiles 10-3 at theedges, and between center and edge on each side two inner mountingprofiles 10-1 and 10-2. In the inner mounting profiles 10-1 and 10-2 aremounted power drive units (PDUs) 51 and latches 52, which securecontainers against forces in the long direction of the aircraft. Inaddition, in all mounting profiles (internal) rollers 33 and ballelements 53 (see FIG. 4) are disposed, so that roller conveyors areproduced.

In the central mounting profile 10, which is provided with the externalrollers 31, 32, latches 40 are attached to secure the items of freightin the transverse direction of the aircraft. As indicated in FIG. 1 andFIG. 4, each of these latches 40 comprises lugs 41, 42 that pointtowards the two sides. By this means containers 1, 2 (see FIG. 1) withlocking edges 3, 4 can be secured by means of the latch 40, i.e. itslugs 41, 42. The arrangement of the external rollers 31, 32 is such thatthe containers 1, 2 with their edge strips 5, 6 are (barely) resting onthe external rollers 31, 32, but do not contact the internal roller 33.Thus two containers situated side by side on the cargo-hold floor (seeFIG. 4) can be reliably supported by means of a single mounting profile10 and the external rollers 31, 32 attached there. If a container withgreater width is loaded into the cargo hold, or for whatever reasons anarrower container is being transported not along the edges but rathermore in the middle, the internal roller 33 comes into action; thisroller is wide enough to support such a container even at its relativelysoft floor. In this case the external rollers 31, 32 provide anadditional supporting surface.

It can be seen from the above that the utilization of the supportrollers described here is associated not only with savings in effortand/or weight; in addition, because of the arrangement of the latches 40within this central mounting profile, a considerable advantage isachieved in comparison to the state of the art.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

-   1 1st container-   2 2nd container-   3 Locking edge-   4 Locking edge-   5 Edge strip-   6 Edge strip-   10 Mounting profile-   11 1st side wall-   12 2nd side wall-   13 Floor-   14 Upper edge-   15 Upper edge-   20 Cage-   21 Flange-   22 Outer wall-   23 Upper surface-   24 Side plate-   25 Side plate-   26 Rivet-   27 Opening-   31 1st external roller-   23 2nd external roller-   33 Internal roller-   34 Axle-   40 Latch-   41 1st lug-   42 2nd lug-   50 Cargo-space floor-   51 PDU (power drive unit)-   52 Latch-   53 Ball element

1. Support roller arrangement mounted in a mounting profile for use in afloor of an aircraft cargo hold, the mounting profile comprising sidewalls and defining an interior space wherein latch elements can bemounted in order to secure an item of freight, the arrangementcomprising an axle that passes through the side walls of the mountingprofile and on each end of which an external roller is rotatably mountedoutside the interior space of the mounting profile.
 2. Support rollerarrangement according to claim 1, wherein an internal roller is mountedon the axle within the interior space of the mounting profile. 3.Support roller arrangement according to claim 1, wherein each of theexternal rollers is mounted in a support cage that on one side isattached to an adjacent side wall part of the mounting profile and thaton the other side comprises an outer wall to which the axle is attachedand supported by means of an end section.
 4. Support roller arrangementaccording to claim 3, wherein the support cage defines an upper surfacewith a central opening through which the external roller mounted thereinextends outward.
 5. Support roller arrangement according to claim 4,wherein the upper surface of the support cage is constructed so that itslopes upward toward the external roller mounted in said support cage.6. Support roller arrangement according to claim 4, wherein the uppersurface of the support cage has a rounded outer contour with side flanksthat diverge in the direction toward the adjacent side wall part of themounting profile to which the support cage is attached.
 7. Supportroller arrangement according claim 1, wherein the length of the externalrollers is substantially smaller than the width of the internal space ofthe mounting profile.
 8. Support roller arrangement according to claim 1when installed in the middle of a cargo hold of an aircraft to operateas a roller conveyor, transverse latch elements being mounted in theinternal space of the mounting profile to lock into place pairs offreight items along the middle of the floor of the cargo hold.